


Graffiti Target

by zairaswift



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Graffiti, Parkour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:19:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zairaswift/pseuds/zairaswift
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A notorious graffiti artist makes his way around sharing his unique art while incorporating different messages. Weaving through the dark alleyways, you will always find a bit of colour. Join him as he creates partnerships and goes onto a world scale even where even underground has heard of him: 27.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Posted so people can read it at school since AoOO is unblocked, for now...
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is rightfully owned by Akira Amano.

In this world, there's something that everyone respects. Of course, it's not that big, and judging from most people's point of view, it is seen as vandalism. But now… graffiti is more like a different type of art. Sure there are different types of them, like that simple bubble writing with two colours or just the squiggly line that is a signature, but now there are certain people who created masterpieces using these fiddly spray cans. Maybe you think graffiti is a nuisance because it's hard to clean up but trust me, you'll want to have a look at what some people can do.

…

"Hey, pass me the orange. I'm done," said the brown haired teenager clad in black, then quickly added, "Um, don't throw them please! Just put it in my hand."

"Yep! It's kinda hard to see in the dark so I won't throw it," said the black haired teen who laughed and put the spray can into the other's palm. There were a calm even spray coming from the can and then it spluttered just as the teen finished.

"Phew, we'll have to get some more."

Sprayed on the wall was a person who was spray painting the wall with the colours of the rainbow, supporting the rights of same sex marriage and relationships. The partners wore black clothes to blend into the night, hoods to cover their hair and a mask to cover their faces. Neither of them really knew who the other was despite knowing the eyes, hair and nose.

"You know, you're really kind. This stuff really does send out the message though," said the black haired teen.

In the corner of the spray paint was the orange word: TARGET, and then the number 27 beside it.

"So are you going to or not, 80?" said the brunette, packing up all his things, making sure they didn't leave any evidence.

"Haha, I will, 27~" said the other teen then getting a blue spray paint can and spraying the number 80 next to the 27.

The two of them heard footsteps heading their way and the followed by a flash light. The two of them smiled to each other and went packing leaving the sight. They ran fast and silently weaving through alleyways they knew and had ever so often spray painted. Although they had been doing this for two years and a bit, it was interesting how people often reacted to their 'art.'

The two teenage boys laughed as they scaled a wall and sat on the ledge, peering over to see a man with a flashlight pointing it right at the art they had just finished.

"How many have you done so far?"

"That's the 59th one," replied the brunette, smiling smugly at his achievements.

"So, are we going to meet for real one day? It's been a year and a half since we started together," said the black haired teen.

"Maybe. Do you live in Namimori? Well obviously you do," stated the brunette. He checked his bag, finding all his spray cans available.

"You want to do one more? Just a really simple one to, you know, mock the guy there," said the other teen laughing lightly. Should the brunette ever meet the real guy, he would recognise him first with the laugh.

"Yeah, why not?" And so the teens started to spray words of a message aimed indirectly towards the guy who first saw their 59th art work. The final bit, like all the other messages they've done together, said: Graffiti is fun and it's not a hobby. It's a job that tells you that it's art. Give us a blank wall and we'll make it colourful. – Target 27 & 80.

"Oka-" said the black haired teen only to be cut off falling off the side of the building.

"Ah!" cried out the brunette. He was angry at himself for not being able to save him. "Are you okay?"

"Ahahaha! I'm okay! I think I just sprained my wrist," said the other, standing up straight. Luckily it wasn't the other side of the building or he would have plummeted a staggering 8 stories instead of 1.

"Oh thank god." The brunette helped him up the roof. After the brunette was done fussing over his arm, the black haired teen had to go. Calling it a day, they waved good bye to each other as they made their way home to sneak back into bed at 3am in the morning.

…

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"Ugh…" the brunette looked up from his bed and towards the alarm clock.

"Ah… 8:10am… OH SHI-"

"Ara, Tsu-kun? Are you up?" asked his mother from downstairs. She was a lovely lady, and you can't blame her for being so oblivious to her son's… habits at night.

"Yep! I'm coming down!" cried the teen as he quickly dressed into his clothes and stumbled downstairs tripping over the second last step like always. He got back up and took whatever was on the plate, the bento that was on the bench and instantly headed out. He had less than 5 minutes to get to school and he did not want to get bitten to death by a certain someone.

"Tsu-kun!" called out his mother. "Ara… what a forgetful boy, he forgot that he set his alarm twenty minutes early." She hummed a small tune and chuckled at her son as he sped down the streets.

…

"I'm so going to die," said the brunette. He glided through the suburban streets with ease, going through the quickest routes that he had discovered as a graffiti artist who often ran away from police looking for the short thin person who spray painted on perfectly white walls or on places where it was near impossible to get rid of, like on the common train. He'd spray paint on the windows and give the people who were on the inside look out at the art and still be able to look outside at the view. The people from the outside would look at the art work which seemed like a bunch of doodles, art works and words combined to be piled into a group over the train carriage.

Police ended up giving up cleaning it up and the public didn't seem to mind it except for those who were against graffiti on public transport and such. The graffiti looked stylish and gave some spice the plain dark walls they see each day on the way to work.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," said the cold steely voice.

"Hieee! Hibari-sempai!" cried out Tsuna, "I'm sorry for being late!"

"Hn, you are not late. In fact, you are too early. You are here five minutes before you are allowed in the school," said Hibari.

'Oh yeah, we can't enter until 8am. Wait. I'm NOT LATE!' thought Tsuna. He fist pumped, as it was one of the rare times he actually got to school early. He had barely five hours of sleep, but he's had worse. Anyways, school doesn't start until 8:15am.

"I will bite you to death for entering the school at the wrong time." And took out his tonfas from nowhere.

"Hie! Hibari-san, I can just wait here until I can enter!" cried out Tsunayoshi putting his hands out in hopes that he would listen. Hibari clicked his tongue and put away his tonfas in a swipe of the air. Sometimes, Tsuna wondered where he put them. Were they up his sleeves? But then you would be able to see the steel through the white sleeves. Maybe he had them in his hands all the time but had something that could make it invisible. What if he had some mechanism that followed him everywhere and it was like a secret invisible pocket in the air? Or what if he just put it somewhere it unable to be seen like, it was strapped to his stomach. His arms usually were by his side, so maybe they were there.

The bell rang in due time and Tsuna was able to enter. He made himself cosy under the Sakura tree that was deposited in the side of the school where no one really went.

"Oh, someone's here," said a gruff voice. A delinquent perhaps that slipped past Hibari and went in the school a different way. "Oh, if it isn't Dame-Tsuna. Got the blues?"

The brunette stiffened up at the mention of his stupid nick-name. Honestly, he couldn't believe it stuck with him from middle school. He was only part way through his first year at high school. The reason he started his secret profession as a graffiti artist in his second year of middle school, was to get his mind off the bullies and people who called him DAME all. The. Freaking. Time.

"What do you want?" asked Tsuna.

"Oh, so he's talking back now~" said one of the other delinquents. "You wanna teach him a lesson? Maybe he can learn something, finally."

'Well fuck my life,' thought Tsuna as he was roughly grabbed by the arms. There was a few kicks in the stomach then a punch every now and then in the face and chest. One of the kicks went too far and cracked a rib or two. One of them, at the same time, stomped on his foot, but ended up stepping on his ankle which he could feel roll out of its socket. Cursing under his breath, he struggled not to cry out in pain.

"C'mon guys. It's nearly bell time," said their leader.

'Glad you care about the bell time,' thought Tsuna as he tried to gather himself off the ground. Despite the pain in his ankle, he inspected it and nudged it a few spots. When he was certain, he gave it a quick push as it went back in place. He bit his tongue at the pain and poked his chest. It could heal over time, but his breathing will be hindered, and his running as well. It would require more effort to run at night.

Shuffling along, he made his way to the front entrance where the demon prefect would be standing watching guard for late students. Waiting for the bell to go, he then went up to Hibari.

"Can you admit me from class?" he asked.

"Hn. One thing then you can," replied Hibari. Only on rare occasions did he let Tsuna, but since he got to school early, it seems like he got a free pass, or so he thought. A tonfa crashed into his face, knocking him out. Smirking, Hibari slung the small and light teen over his shoulder and made his way to the infirmary.

When he got there, he just let go of the brunette as he flopped onto the bed. Hibari signed one of the papers and put it on the desk and left.

It was a good ten minutes before Tsuna woke up. Groaning, he felt a bump on his head from falling backwards and then a half swollen half bruised mark on his forehead, which was obviously from a steel tonfa. It's a miracle that he hasn't died yet. He shuddered as he just hoped that the 'yet' will never come.

"Where's the painkillers again?" he asked himself. Being a constant visitor to the infirmary, he memorized where most of the things were. The nurse never was in the office and not many people got hurt in high school, except for him, of course.

He pulled out a small packet of tablets and promptly chugged down five tablets to get rid of the migraine and the ringing in his ears. The rest would go to the rest of his body. And that headache was only from Hibari. He cleaned himself off with a paper towel and disinfect and scratches he could find that scattered his body. The bruises, he could only put a cooling cream on them, and the broken ribs would just have to be bandaged up. Bending down and stretching his arms around his chest had now become a hard task.

Thinking he was done, he stood up again only to slump back down as he clutched his ankle. It was slightly swollen and a purple colour. Sort of disgusted at his own wound, he bounded a long strip of bandage around it. His walking would be a bit stiff, but it was better than slumping down all the time. He put a large patch over his forehead, which still wasn't able to cover the red-purple from the tonfa mark.

Sighing, he spotted the paper that Hibari signed. Maybe they would, one day, become friends. It was a chance. He filled in some of the parts that he could and marked down the time he left the infirmary and walked towards his class.

On the way, he was met by a teacher, who was very kind, and asked whether he was okay, seeing him all patched up.

"You should call a teacher over to the infirmary if you're hurt," she said.

"Ah, I'm sorry, sensei. But I think I shouldn't trouble any sensei-s especially when class is on," replied Tsuna with a bright smile. The younger female teacher seemed flustered at the boy's kindness and told him to get a move on if he didn't want to be scolded by his teacher.

'If he wasn't always hurt, he'd actually look like a decent young man,' thought the teacher.

"I'm sorry, I'm late sensei."

"Sawada! Late again?" sneered the teacher. What's his name again… oh of course! NEZU.

"I was bitten to death by Hibari-sempai," bluntly said Tsuna. Some of the class sniggered while the others pitied him for being the victim of Hibari. Nezu didn't find the reason plausible though.

"Sir, he has a tonfa mark on his forehead, if you can't tell," said a student who often taunted the stupidness of Nezu.

"I-I can see that! Return to your seat at once, Sawada!" barked Nezu, annoyed and took his anger on Sawada.

"Hai~"

…

Lunch time

"Hey Dame-Tsuna, tripped again?" sniggered a student who stuck his leg out and Tsuna deliberately fell over it, avoiding further damaging his ankle. He still had to put up with this till the end of high school. Two more years and a few more months. Too long for his liking.

He looked down as he went out of the hall way and up towards the roof. He could hear cries coming from outside but payed no attention to them. That's until he saw the person who was on the ledge of the roof outside the fence.

"YAMAMOTO'S JUMPING OFF THE ROOF!" was what the students were crying. Wide-eyed and frantic, Tsuna stared. He was so familiar.

"Hey stop!" shouted Tsuna, putting whatever he had on the ground.

"Oh… Dame-Tsuna, it's you."

"Yamamoto, right? You shouldn't do this! You still have a purpose in this world!"

"Well, you probably have felt like me before. Being Dame and all that. At least you're good at being clumsy," said Yamamoto, looking very depressed. Tsuna was a bit offended, but now wasn't the time.

"I was just being with my friend and me being so stupid and careless, I broke my arm," he babbled, "how am I supposed to help him now?"

He finally realised who it was.

"80, right?" said Tsuna with a calm voice. He quickly looked up.

"You-"

Tsuna easily climbed over the fence and stood beside him. The building was just a bit over a regular 4 story building. Tsuna took off his jacket and tied it over his head, making it look like the mask he wore.

"C'mon, it's not that bad. Trust me. Let's do it like the thrilling times." Yamamoto's eyes widened as he recognised 27's voice and nodded slowly and laughed a bit. He took off his own jacket and put it around his head like his mask. They nodded and laughed together as they did something that the spectators did not expect them to do. As graffiti artists, they were constantly on the run, so learning how to land safely or get away from people was very important. Though they've only done the max of a four stories, it was still hard to land properly.

As soon as they left the not so-very-safe ledge of the building, they flipped in the air, slowing their fall as they maintained an angled position in the air. Though it did not seem possible, the amount of practice the two went through to perfect the fall was immense and as they touched the ground they rolled forward quickly and then turning onto their side and getting up and running like the wind.

It was a flowing sort of fall, like how you roll forward and stand up without using your hands. They high fived each other as they ran away from the bewildered crowd.

"Who was that?"

"Was that a stunt?"

"That's a prank right?"

Many rumours and gossip flashed across the school. When Tsuna and Yamamoto came to a stop, Tsuna gave a light punch to Yamamoto saying just how terrified he was to see him about to jump off the roof.

"I'm sorry! I'll treat you to some sushi some time," apologised Yamamoto.

"Ah, I forgot my lunch on the roof," remembered Tsuna.

"I'll get it for you," offered Yamamoto.

"Actually, I want you to stay away from the roof for a while," said Tsuna as he headed off to get on the roof.

Yamamoto was bombarded with questions when he returned to class about what on earth he was doing. Every now and then Tsuna's and Yamamoto's eyes connected a few times as they smirked to themselves, happy knowing who 27 and 80 were.

'I didn't realise he was in my class till now, though,' thought Tsuna. He stared out the window where he saw some of the Disciplinary Committee members, painting over something brightly coloured on the blank wall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own KHR, it is owned rightfully by Akira Amano.

"Hey, Tsuna, you know I was thinking about today's events," started Yamamoto as he walked with Tsuna down the street to buy spray paint cans, "I think I really do need to owe you more than just free sushi."

"Eh? It's fine, really! Honestly, at that time I didn't know what you were even thinking," Tsuna shuddered as he thought about when and what to do next for their spray art. They didn't do many, and he barely did more than one every few weeks.

"Haha, do you want to meet up after school every now and then?" asked Yamamoto.

"Why not? You can come over to my place today. My mum likes it when I bring friends over, not that that's happened much," added Tsuna. "Really, fussing over a broken arm when I literally asked you if you were okay. You know, today, I broke two ribs and my ankle was twisted."

"WHAT?!" Some of the public members looked at the black haired teen. "Seriously? How'd it happen?"

"Ah, it's nothing much to fuss about." The look Yamamoto gave Tsuna seemed to force him to speak and melt him under the pressuring gaze of his eyes.

"There were just some bullies, you know, nothing much."

"Then what's that on your forehead?" asked Yamamoto.

"Oh that's-"

"Look, its Hibari-san," whispered Yamamoto as he pointed at the prefect who just entered the shop they wanted to enter.

"Eh? What's he doing here?" asked Tsuna, glad that he was interrupted by Yamamoto about the tonfa wound.

The two spied on the elder teen as he bought a large roll of paper and then some spray paint cans. Interesting. As soon as he left, they were suspicious of what he was going to do with the materials.

"Maybe he's like one of us. But what's with the paper?"

"It's most likely because he'll paint on that and put it up somewhere. It's not vandalism but just putting some paper on a wall, like a canvas in the museum. It's a loophole for vandalism and art," said Tsuna. He had used this method before and from experience it was very effective to the public, but not to the weather. At this time was the year, it was colder, but there wasn't any rain or snow to ruin any papers, so it was a good time.

"C'mon, let's get our stuff," said Tsuna finally. The two of them picked their colours carefully, remembering what they had ran out of and both of them bought their representative colours, orange and blue.

"Thank you for coming," said the shopkeeper.

"Have a nice day," replied Tsuna waving at him. Yamamoto started listing off ideas for their next artwork as they strolled off towards where Tsuna lived.

…

"Ah, Tsu-kun! You brought home a friend!" exclaimed Nana, excited since it was the first friend he had brought home that year.

"Haha, good afternoon Sawada-san!" greeted Yamamoto.

"No need to call me that, Yamamoto-kun. Just call me Nana or even mama," replied Nana.

"Okay Nana-san. Tsuna and I are going to work on an art project," said Yamamoto. It's funny how he was not lying.

Tsuna led Yamamoto upstairs and into his room. It wasn't that messy, nor was it neat, but he cleaned it every now and then. He pulled out the kotatsu from the corner of the room and the two of them got started. They listed recent news events ranging from the Christmas special events to equality rights which had become a thing.

"Hey, this is good, Tsuna. We can do the New Year's fireworks," suggested Yamamoto.

"Wah~ it's so much easier to do it like this. Do you want to go scouting? Since we now know each other we can increase our graf-work," said Tsuna, stretching his back and then promptly yawning. Scouting was basically looking for a place to put their spray paint art and because they both knew each other, now, it made work much easier and they wouldn't have to plan everything on one day whereas they could now plan over more than that usual time.

"Why not? Bring a flash light and we'll meet in the usual place at let's say… 11pm? Yeah, that'll do. My dad's closing the shop a bit earlier so we can go then instead of the dead of midnight," said Yamamoto.

"Okay, are you going Yamamoto-kun?"

"Yep, I'm going to tell the old man about you and help him out a bit. You can come over some time, here's the address," he said then scribbling quickly on a piece of scrap paper. Tsuna gathered the papers and put them carefully into a plastic sleeve and clipped it into a file folder.

"Oh yeah, you don't have to call me Yamamoto. Just call me Takeshi."

"Ah, really?" Tsuna raised his eyebrows, "Okay, Ya-Takeshi!"

"I also put my phone number on it too~ Text it when I leave to check if it works, I'll reply," said Yamamoto.

The two of them went downstairs and both Nana and Tsuna waved goodbye to Yamamoto as he left, while Tsuna quickly texted the number provided for him and then instantly got a reply.

"So was it nice finally having a friend?" asked Nana when the other boy was out of view.

"Well… we were sort of friends for a year or so, mum. It's just that we never got the chance to, you know, meet up," said Tsuna sheepishly, not wanting to lie to his mother and putting away his phone.

"Hm? Really?" giggled Nana, "I'll get dinner ready then."

Tsuna went back upstairs to finalise a few plans for their art and gathered different locations that they haven't been to. They had a little bit more than an hour extra than they usually had so he wanted as much done as possible. It was a special occasion as well since they had now fully met and introduced to each other and weren't referred as, 27 or 80.

When he finished, he took a shower and only to slip over as he got out of the shower. He grunted as he felt sharp pain go to his ankle. It would have been fine if he weren't so clumsy! The ankle had been aggravated and he made sure to check it when he had the time. Most of the cuts he had were sealed up, but still required medical attention. The swelling on his forehead had subsided and only a large dark bruise remained. His chest, however, was peppered with minor bruises and having two dark purple one where his ribs were broken and it looked like a distorted shoe imprint. He just wondered how he managed to pull through the entire day.

"Tsu-kun, dinner's ready~" shouted Nana.

He finished up and went downstairs to have dinner and helped wash up the dishes after he shovelled down his food. He then rushed through some last minute homework and then double checked his plans. Finding them all somewhat possible, he set his alarm to 10 minutes before 11pm and got some quick shut eye.

…

The moment he woke up, the quiet ringing coming from the alarm clock went off. It was loud enough to wake him, but not loud enough to be heard by his mother in the other room, unless both their doors were open.

Smirking to himself, he unlocked his bedroom window and slipped downstairs. Taking his shoes back upstairs, he put them on as he stepped out the window and leapt down. Speeding his way down the street, sticking to the sides, he went via the usual route which required going through the main street and then through the shopping centre and then through a series of alley ways. It was a little past 11 but he thought it was fine. Yamamoto wasn't usually an early one at night since he often helped out his father at their shop.

Placing his fingers into the dents of a brick wall, he scaled it quickly, a bit like a lizard, and then went over to see a small alleyway they ended up using like a small base. It was connected to a maze of other streets and alley ways they could literally go where they wanted in Namimori.

He flicked on the flashlight and let the beam trail the walls. That's strange. He was pretty sure that he hadn't put any new graffiti on the wall, maybe Yamamoto did it when he was waiting. But it looked like it was just finished, so where was he?

He looked around to see if Yamamoto was in sight and saw the silhouette of a person and assumed it was him.

"Hey, Takeshi, over here," said Tsuna, waving silently at him. The person only stood there as if in shock and then annoyance.

"Get away from me, you can't catch me!" said the voice.

"H-hey wait!" cried out Tsuna. He wanted to know who it was. He had done something very simple on the wall, a grand piano and an empty seat with no one playing it. It seemed like it had a deep meaning behind it and he wanted to know the story. He was like Yamamoto, in a way. When he first met Yamamoto he was spray painting a simple baseball and baseball bat but with no one playing with them.

"Curse my faulty ankle," he muttered straining to keep up, he realised that he knew where he was going and decided to take a short cut. The place that person was heading to was a new building that recently popped up. It was like a mini mansion and it just looked really… shady.

He climbed over a small building and took a running jump as he aimed at the moving person.

"Stop right there!" shouted Tsuna as he leapt off the side and wrapped his arms around his waist pulling him down with him [and also breaking his fall].

"Ugh… GET OFF ME."

"No! I want to hear your story! I-I mean… I just want to know who you are!" replied Tsuna, worried he would have to go through all that trouble and chase him all over again.

"Fuck off! I don't need anyone prying into my life," he retorted, trying to shove off the smaller teen off him.

"Then why did you want to want your piano to be noticed? Obviously, you want us to know about you. You could have left a message to meet one day or something!" exclaimed Tsuna. The other person fell silent and stopped trying to pry Tsuna off him. Finding that he wouldn't run away again, he let go slowly of him and the both of them stood back up.

"It's just that…" he seemed to look down in shame, but it was entirely something different. "I WANTED TO BE YOUR FOLLOWER. I RESPECTED YOU FOR YOUR WORKS!"

'Well that just happened to be something else…' thought Tsuna as he sweat-dropped.

Even in the pitch darkness of the night, Tsuna could tell the other one was blushing. Suddenly, Tsuna's phone ringing ruined the moment.

"Oh, sorry," apologised Tsuna to the other person and then picking up the call, "This is- Yamamoto kun! Ah, Takeshi! I'm sorry! Yeah, I'll get there in a bit."

Then he ended the call.

"Was that the other person?"

"Yeah? Anyways, I'm 27, but I'm more known as Sawada Tsunayoshi," said Tsuna holding out his hand.

"Y-you trusted me with your real name?" stuttered the other teenager.

"Hm, why not?"

"Ah, never mind. I'm Gokudera Hayato, very nice to to meet you!" blurted out Gokudera shaking Tsuna's hand quickly as if he didn't want to 'dirty his godly hands.'

"Then Gokudera, do you want to join us? I mean, it's your choice-"

"I WOULD LOVE TO!"

"Ah, Hayato! Don't shout so loudly!" said Tsuna waving his hands at him, but then quickly recognising his mistake, "ah, I'm sorry for calling you by your first name!"

"No, no, no, it's fine! My apologies!" replied Gokudera then smiling proudly, "you can call me whatever you want!"

"A-are you sure? Then Hayato it is!" agreed Tsuna, "would you like to go back now?"

"Ye-yes! Niina sama!"

"Niina?"

"Niina, as in nii, two, and nana, seven!" explained Hayato.

"Ahaha, j-just don't call me that so much." He didn't want anyone figuring it out. But it was a bit like a mix of his name since it was Tsu – two, and then Na- seven. They would put it that way instead of some famous graffiti artist.

The two of them returned to the maze of alley ways towards where Yamamoto waited. Tsuna ended up finding out that Gokudera had his own code name of 59, made from go- five and ku [kyu] – nine.

"Yo, Tsuna!" greeted Yamamoto who was gazing at the piano graffiti.

"Oi! Don't call Niina sama so casually," shouted Gokudera.

"Who's this?"

"Ah, this is Gokudera Hayato and he's going to be 59 and joining us. He's the one who did that," Tsuna introduced Gokudera despite him not liking Yamamoto while pointing to the piano.

"Really? That's cool! I'm Yamamoto Takeshi or 80!" smiled Yamamoto, like always. He could sense the trust that Tsuna portrayed to Gokudera, like how he first met him.

"Hmph!" Yamamoto laughed nervously at Gokudera who didn't really want to accept him. That was okay, he was fine with that.

"So um… despite Gokudera joining us, I think we'll continue what we were going to do," explained Tsuna, "so we were just going to go scouting, but I figure that Hayato can suggest some areas."

"Really? Thank you Niina sama!" Tsuna sweat dropped at the name. It sounded like a girl's name and gosh, he didn't want to remember the times when he was younger and was often mistaken for a girl and almost stripped for that.

"Well… I guess that mansion that you saw earlier can be a good spot," said Gokudera.

"Huh? Don't you live there?" asked Tsuna referring to when he was running towards there as if for cover.

"Hayato lives in that mansion? Cool!" joined in Yamamoto.

"Hey! Don't call me by that!"

"Maa maa, it's a name! You can call me Takeshi, if you want!"

"Guys, I think we should go back to topic," said Tsuna where Gokudera immediately reacted and quietened down and gave Yamamoto short glares from time to time.

"So why did you suggest that mansion?" asked Tsuna.

"Well, I do sort of live there, but I'm only there temporarily until I find my own place to live. I only just recently moved to Japan with those guys after I heard about some person going around Japan and graphitising the country with awesome inspiring messages. In a way it sort of saved me," answered Gokudera and scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed, "the reason I suggested that well. I think it's better to see than explain."

"Oh. Wait, where did you come from?"

"Italy, why?" asked Gokudera as if he was completely clueless. Even if he was a genius from the personality, he was pretty naïve considering the fact when he used to live on the other side of the planet and hear about some lowly graffiti artist.

"Nevermind… so do you want us to head there or something?"

"Yeah, why not? Well, I just concerned for you safety, of course, Niina sama," said Gokudera sheepishly.

"And why should we be concerned for our safety?" asked Yamamoto.

"Well, I don't really care about you, but the people there aren't really the type of people you meet every day," replied Gokudera.

And so Tsuna started to wonder what sort of people they would possibly meet. They might recognise Gokudera, but he and Yamamoto had their own skills from the experience of running.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Try and guess who these people are who are living at this mansion! You can ask any questions you want, regarding this story or others, and I'll answer them!

ALSO, here's a small omake.

How 27 met 80…

He was only a year and a few months into his career as a graffiti artist. He was thinking about finding people who were willing to partner up with him and, of course, be his secret friend. Tsuna, at that time was still dame and in the beginning of his third year at middle school.

During this time, he started to look for more place to graffiti where it can be a secretive area and only he and whoever else is going to be his buddy. He ended up climbing a weather beaten brick wall and accidently cut himself from grabbing the wall too quickly and cursed under his breath. Taking note of that, he'd probably have to fix it sometime if he needed it for immediate emergencies.

Reaching the top of the wall, he looked around for alley ways in sight. There seemed to be one straight alley way where the wall originally was but he soon found that there were tinier alleyways that intertwined with the one he was in. Going through a few twists and turns, memorising each step, he almost missed one but was luckily helped by the soft sounds of a spray can.

Curious, he peered into the alley way, wanting to know the source of the sound. He recognised it as the one that he had accidentally stumbled upon from the roof but didn't find any way out so he went back up from the way he got in. The lion that was spray painted on one side of the wall confirmed that he had been there along with the number '27' just below it. The alley way was a dead end but there was one person there who stood there spraying something small. Next to him seemed to be a sports bag of some sort.

Using his own skills of stealth, he sneaked along the wall and admired the graffiti work when the person turned away to leave. It was of a baseball bat and mitt and coincidentally, his head was right in front of the mitt.

"It's good," he mumbled quietly. Something told his sense that he should duck or he would lose his head. The split second after he ducked forward, falling to the ground, a baseball was thrown right where his head was. He looked at the wall where the ball had lodged itself into the wall and where the mitt was, as if the mitt, literally, caught the baseball.

"Who are you?" asked the serious voice.

"Ahaha, I'm… uh… the person who did that!" said Tsuna pointing at the lion on the wall, hopefully making a successful distraction to escape the very dangerous person who could throw a ball to kill.

Just as he was about to run away, the voice called after him.

"Ah wait! I'm sorry if this is where you usually come, 27!" said the voice, no longer so serious, but in an apologetic tone. He stopped in his tracks and the person had already caught up with him.

"Um-"

"It's just that no one really compliments me so… what's the word. Ahaha, I'm too stupid and simple minded to know," said the person.

"No, no! I think the work was pretty thoughtful. Even the simplest person has something they can think about seriously," said Tsuna.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and about the baseball things, is there a reason why you didn't put any people playing with them?" asked Tsuna, thinking deeply.

"Well, sort of, I mean-"

"I didn't mean to pry! I'm sorry!" apologised Tsuna, thinking he had just gone ahead of himself. All artworks have a special meaning to them, and what Tsuna thought was that graffiti is something that needs to be noticed by a lot of people, the reason why it was usually in an open and public space. But the reason he often stuck to alley ways was because he was a scaredy cat. But this person didn't seem like one.

"It's okay. I just like baseball and all I get is- Oh you did great! But even though you said it was 'good' it seemed genuine and not a general sort of view," explained the other person. "It just feels kinda empty, like a phantom or a ghost is just there doing it like it was a normal everyday things. That's how I feel."

"Hm… you know the reason why I put that lion there?" asked Tsuna, brightly. This person would make a perfect friend.

"No… why?"

"They're proud and loud beasts aren't they? At the top of the food chain, on land of course, and this one is here, hidden in the shadows without anyone there and all alone," started Tsuna, "and it's like me. I don't think I'm brave, but I aspire to be like a lion and have more belief and courage for myself but I can't help but be afraid of what's out there. It's still the same case though…"

"A-ah…"

It was silent for a few awkward moments but Tsuna piqued up again.

"It's your choice, but is it alright if you can be my friend? I've never really had one and it would be nice to have some company at the unsaintly hours of the night," said Tsuna.

"That's great! I'd love to be your friend!" he replied brightly. His laugh was contagious, making you want to laugh along.

"I'm 27 and you are?"

"Um… 8-80, yeah. I'm 80, nice to meet you 27."

That was the start of the blossoming friendship between 27 and 80.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn, it is rightfully owned by Akira Amano.

PREVIOUSLY

And so Tsuna started to wonder what sort of people they would possibly meet. They might recognise Gokudera, but he and Yamamoto had their own skills from the experience of running.

…

"Um, Hayato-kun, what sort of people live at that mansion with you?" asked Tsuna. He got a gut feeling that the people he was going to see were going to be either dangerous or scary. But something left him knowing that the people he was going to meet, he had encountered before.

"Well, they swear a lot, fight a lot, argue as well, and they all have their own… unique personalities," started Gokudera as Tsuna and Yamamoto followed him closely. "They throw things around and you don't want to be hit by any of those objects, others just swing things around and literally break everything in their path. That's the reason I get away from them, so I don't need to clean up their damn mess."

"… Is that the Varia gang?" asked Tsuna. Of course it had to be them. Who else is out right crazy as them?

"N-Niina? How do you know them?" asked Hayato. It's not like a lot of people know about their antiques and how they go around when they weren't on duty in the mafia… Wait, did Tsuna know about the mafia? Did he just endanger his boss?

"Well…" began Tsuna, "It was a bit before Takeshi-kun joined me."

"Oh you told me about this!" exclaimed Takeshi while Tsuna just wanted to flop forward and face plant into the tiled roof.

"I just happened to stumble across some good walls that had kept being rebuilt, so I decided to put something there that would prevent them to destroy it." If it weren't for Gokudera and Takeshi being Gokudera and Takeshi, they would of thought, 'And that's the typical Tsuna.'

"So I spent quite a long time working of the wall and used the things to my advantage such as the cracks which I found pretty similar to a spider's web," continued Tsuna, "and with that, I continued just putting other animals there."

"Haha, this is the best bit!" interrupted Yamamoto.

"Um… actually it was more like the bit where I could have died." That's what Tsuna wanted to say but decided not to and then continued with his story. "Sadly, I was caught by the group and they started to run after me. It's scary just thinking about it!" He shuddered.

"What did those bastards do to you?!" demanded Gokudera which made both Tsuna and Yamamoto cringe at the sheer volume.

"One of them almost cut my head off with some sort of sword, one was throwing knives and another was shooting at me… I thought the weapons were illegal, but then I realised that graffiti was also illegal in most cases," said Tsuna and then paused. "I think the reason they were angry was because that they were the ones who repaired the wall or it's just their area."

"Then… how did you know they were called the Varia?" asked Gokudera, cautious in what he was questioning and not mentioning anything about the relations of Varia being one of the strongest in the underground world.

"Oh, they were on the news."

"What." Were they serious? They were supposed to lie low in the normal world! Not exploit anything about them being so DANGEROUS!

"Yeah, they were really furious about what I did and then said they were going to kill me when they found me. They just took over the news reporter who was doing the report on the graffiti and I just happened to turn on the TV when that happened," said Tsuna, "I think have forgotten about me though, so I should be safe…?"

Gokudera didn't say anything. He didn't want to worry him and nor did he want his, unfortunately, rash mouth to spout out something about the mafia. Before they trio could say anything else they had already arrived at their destination.

The mansion's lights were switched on and you could hear the shouting coming from the people inside. Most of them were swear words and others about trying to kill each other, not literally but in a figure of speech.

"Hey Hayato, you have your spray paints on you right? I have something in mind," said Tsuna. Gokudera nodded and the three stalked the perimeter of the mansion's gardens.

"This is the perfect place," said Tsuna, grinning happily to himself. Despite what people said, about him being pathetic and useless, he still had his sadistic side that was hidden away only until he experiences pure fun.

"Are you serious, Tsuna?" asked Yamamoto, knowing what Tsuna wanted to do. Although he had never seen him in this mode, he has often seen him close to the point of that sadistic side of him. After thinking about the story about the Varia again, he presumed that the last time Tsuna did that was why he was almost caught by the Varia. With 3 of them, it's going to be easier since there were three different targets, but he didn't know anything about the Varia and his standards weren't as great as Tsuna's. If he was almost caught, then Yamamoto was going to be caught.

"Yep! We're going to do it in plain view where they'll see it all the time, just like this right here." Tsuna pointed at the wall which was next to the main entrance's doors.

"Niina-sama, are you s-sure?" asked Gokudera.

"Trust me, it's only going to be a short message," said Tsuna. Both Yamamoto and Gokudera sweat-dropped at the 'trust me.'

"Come on, I'll do the message and then you can add anything you want," said Tsuna, "we can do it the cheap way like all the amateurs do it."

Gokudera nodded eagerly wanting to impress Tsuna while Yamamoto just rubbed the back of this head and laughed nervously. As Tsuna started with this message, they had absolutely no idea how it had any significance with the Varia.

"If there are no heroes to save you, then you be the hero." [*1]

"I'm sorry to ask, Niina-sama, but um… how does it have any relation to the Varia?" asked Gokudera.

"Oh it's like this, since they so want to 'kill each other,' they need someone to help them and not get killed, right?" The other two agreed. "That's why I'm going to do this~"

The two only stared in awe as he added a few more sentences.

"And if you don't want the help of a hero get yourself together and fight back. You'll realise that one day, that lesson they taught you will help you succeed moving on. That's why you get hurt you have the right to fight back." [*2]

"Done~ you can do whatever you want now," said Tsuna as he reached for the orange can and sprayed 'Target: 27.'

As Yamamoto picked one spray can up, Gokudera growled at him, saying that this was the only time that he was allowed to use the spray cans he owned.

The moment they finished and the addition of '59' next to the 27 and 80, a crashing noise came from inside. The wall beside their graffiti work tumbled apart and blasted off. Knowing that it was time to leave, the three desperately packed their things hoping that the dust wouldn't get onto it.

"VOIII!" someone shouted. "You gotta fix the fucking wall by tomorrow!" The man with long silver hair stepped out and his eyes zoned onto the scurrying teenagers then onto the wall.

"What the hell is this hero shit?! HEY WE GOT INTRUDERS!" alerted the man to the other people and soon, all hell broke loose.

The trio were scaling the wall to get out of the Varia's land, only to Tsuna's (stupid) clumsiness to fall back.

"Niina-sama!" shouted Gokudera. He frantically looked around, trying to look for something to distract the Varia. Despite the calculations that went through his head, he went to his last resort for his dynamite. When he got back, he knew they were going to beat him, but he couldn't let his master to the hell hounds. As soon as the explosion set off, he grabbed Tsuna's arm and pulled him up with his abnormal strength and the three started to sprint off.

Finding themselves followed after shouts of "Damn brats!" they split ways, knowing that it was time to leave for the night.

Gokudera split off first saying that he would stay at a hotel until the Varia had calmed down and sped away running through alley ways. Next was Yamamoto who said he'd have to sneak in from the back entrance, in case the people saw that he lived in the dojo and Takesushi. Tsuna simply went forward like a madman. It seemed like he was the main focus since EVERY. Single. Varia gang. Member. Was. Chasing. HIM.

"VOOOIII! You fucking brat, I'm gonna kill you!"

Well so much for being your own hero, thought Tsuna as he leapt off the side of a building onto the ground. The shouts became faint, so he looked back to check and as soon as he looked forward he crashed into the one person he wished he had never opposed.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, what are you doing here?"

"Hie!"

…

Okay, let's roll back to how it happened. Hibari Kyoya, after purchasing his things from the art shop, had went to stroll through Namimori in order to find somewhere suitable for his 'works.' At first, he had thought it defied his laws that he strictly obeyed in Namimori, but the simple 'thrill' and 'fun' of it made him look further into it and found a simple loophole. This resulted in the purchase of large rolls of paper.

Just as he left after telling his subordinate, Tetsuya Kusakabe, about his plans for the rest of the day, he was making his daily strolls around Namimori. After resting for the night on the school's roof to wait until the right time, he spotted the omnivore rush past the school. Interested, he followed [stalked] him from a distance. Somehow, he just didn't know, Tsuna had slipped out of his vision. Pissed, he decided to ignore him and went on with his own plans.

That's until he ran into him again. More like Tsuna running into him. He had just finished his own work and put it on the wall. Simply turning a corner, the brunette almost crashed him.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, what are you doing here?" he asked.

If he found out about what he did for fun besides biting things to death, it would be very irritating and then he would have to keep him under his surveillance, although he had already done that every now and then. The shorter teenager, shrieked and said that he was sorry and then suddenly said that he needed to get away.

Narrowing his eyes, Hibari saw the incoming people who were, most likely, chasing Tsuna.

"And why should I let you?" questioned the carnivore.

"They're really strong! They'll be good for biting!" exclaimed Tsuna. Curious, he paused but it turned out to be his mistake.

"Bye! I'm sorry, Hibari-san!" shouted Tsuna as he sped away, leaving the carnivore pissed off, yet thankful for the strong people, and the other people who were chasing him stunned.

"Ushishi, looks like the prey has escaped." Hibari glared at the group then recognizing them as the Varia who had disturbed the peace of Namimori multiple times.

"For disturbing the peace of Namimori, I will bite you to death."

There was the blonde who had a tiara, a kid about 10 years old who wore a strange frog hat, a man with a Mohawk, a guy with a strange moustache, a man with long silver hair and, last of all, a man with scars on the side of his face and a permanent frown. For every normal, person they would scream in terror but for Hibari, well, he was about to get the joy of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [*1] - Even though this story is meant to be uplifting, fun and adrenaline pumping, I would like to dedicate it to daily world problems. This includes bullying, status and influence, depression/anxiety, just to name a few. This quote also came from Denpa Kyoshi and I really recommend the manga. Go check it out!
> 
> [*2] - I made this up and added it. I've been on different receiving ends of bullying, and I feel like this addition fits the Varia well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

"Um, Hibari-san," said Tsuna, "are you okay?"

The following day was absolutely terrifying to Tsuna. He had immediately run away from all the commotion when the Varia gang were focused on Hibari. Despite hoping that the demon president didn't get hurt, he probably over did himself against the Varia. I mean, they're a 'gang' *kemmafiakem*for a reason, you know.

The two of them were on Namimori High's roof top, mainly because Hibari didn't want anyone to see them and the roof was never occupied and no one ever goes up there.

"Hn. I'll bite you to death herbivore," seethed Hibari. Tsuna flinched but then he unexpectedly smirked. Hibari raised an eyebrow at his actions and raised his position with his tonfas a tiny bit higher which Tsuna noticed.

Tsuna lifted his arm in which Hibari stared at every movement as Tsuna's arm snaked towards his pocket and pulled out a sleek black device with an orange cover, a smart phone.

"You know, iPineapples (1) sure are good phones. Hopefully they won't copy Cansung (2)," said Tsuna voicing his opinion on the smart phone. Somewhere in the wide vast world, a pineapple haired man sneezed and growled.

"Hn." Despite everything, it didn't seem like Tsuna was going to make a move but Hibari still kept up his stance.

"Okay, let's see…" he mumbled swiping through a few pages on his phone then scrolling through his pictures library. He seemed to light up when he found what he was looking for. Just slightly curious, Hibari looked at the screen that was thrust in front of him and his eyes widened and then sharpened when he looked back at Tsuna who had already pulled his phone away and safely tucked into his pocket.

"Hehehehe, what do you think?" laughed Tsuna as if growing a long pointy nose.

On the screen was a perfectly taken picture of Hibari's first graffiti. It was actually on a wall, and considering Hibari's personality which was bent on discipline and rules, it was black mail.

"… Delete that."

"You seriously think I'd just keep one copy on my phone? I have a few on my laptop hidden in various places, there are some on my external hard-drives and my PC, then I have it on my secondary and tertiary phone in case someone breaks them and I have some embedded into some microchips along with some other people's phones. So basically, you'll have to burn my house down, and me, and then find all the people who have the picture, which'll be hard since you won't know who they are and they don't know either. Be happy it isn't on the internet, or else who can find it and relate it to you?" (3)

…

"I do not wish to be watching this." It was past the time that anyone should be up and they were at Namimori High School.

"Oh? You sure about that?" questioned Tsuna, pushing Hibari. He complied with a growl and watched every move that Tsuna made, as they walked towards the destined area of the school.

"I have a nice idea in mind you know," continued Tsuna, he glanced one more time at his phone and smirked- something that no one usually expects from Tsuna- the evil side of him. Sure he loathed being on the darker side but this was necessary to keep from a raging carnivore. It also provided some sort of entertainment for him as well.

He picked up a spray can, an orange one and started with simple circles which became clouds. He continued doing so with a silver spray can and then it struck Hibari what he was doing.

That carnivorous herbivore is copying my first graffiti with a different colour.

He had to restrain himself. The deal was to let Tsuna put one piece of graffiti on the school grounds, somewhere, and then he would delete all the pictures.

The graffiti mainly showed with the actions portrayed in it. There were exactly three panels. The first one was of a person, it was Hibari, but you can't see the face, which is enjoying the time of breaking the rules for the very first time. The second panel showed the daily life of the person, as if always restrained, handcuffed even, unless he was needed for society. The last one was when both the life of imprisonment and freedom collide where the handcuffed person was looking at the graffiti piece while reaching his arm out.

If Tsuna was able to pull it off, he would be copying it and claiming it as himself. The reason why Hibari put that up there was because of stress. After that, he calmed a bit and started to smile, inwardly, every time he passed people admiring his current works which were on paper that were stuck onto the walls. He knew that there was something fishy about Tsuna and he soon found out when he finished with the number 27 perfectly placed under it.

He felt enraged, sad and annoyed at the same time, he didn't even go for the tonfa- he went for the spray can. (Poor spray can.) Should the spray can be a person; it was going to wringed out of all its energy, and in this case, its paint.

Tsuna had already stepped back and smiled at Hibari as he started to go over his copy of Hibari's work. The two colours started to clash and he stepped back in to fight back the purple. After half an hour of constantly pulling their arms around and running from side to side, they stopped. Both were tired out. Tsuna collapsed and Hibari remained standing. Whoever was the victor depends on the viewers.

"Go home, omnivore. We'll battle again," said Hibari. Before Hibari could leave, Tsuna called out.

"WAIT! You forgot one thing..." said Tsuna returning to his herbivorous traits, cowering under Hibari's glare.

He threw the can at him, scared to be in contact with him. When Hibari took the can, and grunted, he smiled, being able to see the number 18 plastered right next to his 27.

…

Tsuna stepped through the window and quickly shook his clothes out to get rid of any leaves that were stuck to his clothes. Sure that there were no signs of being outside when it was bed time, Tsuna changed into his pyjamas and slipped out to the bathroom so he could at least wash his face without waking up his mother.

He sighed as the water drenched parts of his fringe and side burns and quickly wiped it away with a tower. Feeling more refreshed, he decided to return to his room. But the moment he opened the door, he was met by a very unhappy Sawada Nana.

"So where were you tonight?" asked Nana.

"Um… I was at school?" replied Tsuna. It was the truth anyways.

"Oh? Then why did you come through your bedroom window?"

"I-I forgot to bring keys!" Tsuna was getting desperate. If his mother continued to push on with her questions, he would be dead.

"… Then why did you stutter? I mean, mother knows best!" said Nana with a (sadistic) smile.

…

"So you go out at night with your friends?" asked nana. It was still early in the morning and the two of them settled for coffee in the morning to talk about Tsuna's activities at night. (Oh god how wrong it sounds… XD)

"Ye-yeah… we do illegal things though…" His mother didn't seem to show any sign of surprise. Although there were really few who have suffered the wrath of the annoyed housewife, she was always that kind Nana.

"And you haven't been caught, right?" asked Nana, raising an eye. "What do you do?"

"Well we haven't been caught for two years… graffiti."

"Then I would guess that you're 27?" Tsuna nodded not really thinking about it. There was silence.

"Ara! Mama's so proud of you! To think you were that 27! No wonder every time I look at 27's graffiti it reminded of you!" Tsuna sweat-dropped. Wouldn't that mean that Nana had probably already figured it out form the start? God that perfect housewife feel has totally hidden Nana's true personality.

"Really?"

"Uhn! So why did you start doing this though?" asked Nana.

"Well, in the middle of middle school, you know how… they stopped bullying me? I started then and I just got really good at it and it made me feel better for myself…" answered Tsuna. His answer was automatic and thoroughly thought through.

"Oh. Well… it's still early, but mama will cook a large breakfast, okay?"

After the entire talk with his mother, Tsuna felt like he could be freer. His mother was supportive of him and graffiti was something both she and he enjoyed. (Sorry had a brain fart.)

He took a long shower, making sure he felt more comfortable and getting off the smell of dry sweat and the faint smell of paint. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he observed how his chest rise and fall. Small specks of paint dusted his finger tips from opening and closing the lids of the spray cans and the pale arms that seemed to be paler in the darkness. They were well toned after countless amounts, (actually he just did the 61st. Correct me if I'm wrong), of graffiti. He chuckled to himself when he always climbed around like a lizard on a wall. His breathing was light and puberty hadn't affected him at all. He didn't know whether to feel good or bad about it.

Okay, I was up to here a month ago, so I don't know what was going on. If I say something weird, please tell me. I am currently having a minor headache and a crap day.

When he stepped out of the shower, it was already sun rise, and he felt so damn relaxed that he could just flop on to the floor and eternally stay there. But the smell of food quickly made him return to his senses and go down the stairs, almost tripping on the very first step.

"Wah, there really is a lot," said Tsuna.

"Enjoy all you want! I made extra so you can go take some to school and give it to your friends!" said Nana.

"…" He wasn't going to ask whether she actually knew that the people he worked with at night were friends at school or she assumed so.

He ate slowly enjoying the meal, and felt like he made a big step in getting rid of the old him and making a stronger bond with his mother and having no doubts or regrets. But the story wasn't over, so poor little Tsuna, but he doesn't really know that, does he?

"I'll do the dishes," he said with a smile but Nana only shook her head saying that he should go pack the food and get ready for school to meet up with his friends.

Tsuna sighed and complied. After completing his tasks, he got ready for school, dressing in his uniform and checking the time to find… he was going to be late. That is not good. Especially when you have a wild Hibari. Not good at all.

He rushed down the stairs, tripping on the last step but easily picking himself up and then taking everything on the table which included his bag and the food, and then rushed out the door to get to school.

"Ara, it's been quite a while since I saw him do that~ 2nd year middle school wasn't it?"

…

"AH SHIT!" he shouted, disturbing those around him which mostly compiled of elderly ladies with quite the temper. He could not deal with having a wild Hibari especially since that last night. He scanned the area and pulled out 27 and then hopped onto a wall and leapt onto a few rooves and skidded to a halt taking a right and then back to the ground and rushing towards the school gates.

The bell was going to go…

3…

There was merely 20 metres.

2…

Come on, get out of the way you stupid student.

1…

One step!

Ding dong.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

He jerked his head around, cold sweat going down his neck and gulping.

"Ye-yes, Hibari?"

"Get to class."

He was let off. He was let off! He was freaking LET OFF!

He fist pumped and instantly stopped when he felt the glare baring into his back. He picked himself up and rushed to class.

…

Skip to lunch-

"Niina sama!" cried Gokudera.

"Ah, G-Gokudera-kun!" replied Tsuna.

"You called for me?"

"Um… yeah… Mum, cooked extra so you can have some!" said Tsuna happily, handing Gokudera a plastic container in a plastic bag. Gokudera blushed and thanked him profusely while Tsuna just sighed and went to his next destination, the roof.

"Yo, Tsuna! What's up?" Yamamoto greeted as he gave a short wave to him.

"Ah, I just want to pass you some food. Mum, made extra."

"Thank you!"

And last of all, the scariest place, was the reception room.

He precariously knocked on the door and heard a short grunt letting him go in. Opening the door, he ducked the tonfa which was aimed for his head and simply placed the food on the floor and then fleeing.

Little did he know things were going to start with a boom. Literally.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, because I have bad memory, Tsuna is in 1st year high school or 10th grade and is currently about halfway through the year.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

"HIE!" Tsuna shrieked. He was not prepared for this. When he goes to look at one of his random scribbles of graffiti on the wall he was not suspecting this.

Why would anyone even blow up a wall? Was he being targeted? Maybe it's those Varia people again. He shuddered at the thought of them and faces the blown up rubble where a person emerged from it. Not actually a person, but a child.

"W-who are you?" asked Tsuna as he pulled the mask over his nose to get the smell of wafting dust get into his nostrils.

"Ah… is that you 27-nii?" said the child. He had jet black hair that was cropped around his eyebrows and was curled at the tips. He had lightning green eyes with a strange mark under his eye. He was dressed in a cow print suit with a black vest (making it a vest because it is more childish) and leather shoes of high quality. What rich kid was doing here in Namimori? He only seemed about 8 as well, so where were his guardians? Wait… why was the kid calling him 27 when he was obviously from another country as long as a brother?

"Um… yeah?"

"I found you! You know, Lambo-san had to come from Italia ALL the way to here~" said the kid called Lambo.

"Really? Wait… how do you know me?" asked Tsuna.

"Oh, you're pretty well known in the mafia! The Varia came with the news about you and some other people," said Lambo.

"Varia. Mafia," he said with a stone face. I'm not even going to ask… I swear I thought they were from the yakuza but they are actually part of the Italian mafia… my life is going away from my grasp now….

Lambo, seeing his 'elder brother' in some world of his own decided to tell him the story.

"I heard that you were really annoying and brave… you were also really strong because you out ran the Varia and survived their attacks!" exclaimed Lambo. Tsuna looked like he was about to have froth coming out of his mouth before he suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Why are you here then?" asked Tsuna, unsure whether to take it as a complement or not, "where are your care takers?"

"I don't have any parents and my Famiglia doesn't want me anyways," said Lambo as if it was nothing to him, "I'm here because of my free will. I realised that I was pretty selfish a few years back when I tried tracking down you back then the first time Varia mentioned you. But because I didn't get the details, I just had to work hard enough to get here. So here I am~"

For an 8 year old, he was pretty mature. Or not.

"So you have any candy?"

"Um… I don't have any, but I can give you some later but first can we do this?" asked Tsuna picking up a new spray can.

"I don't think I have a proper idea in mind, but maybe just a memory thing will do…" thought Tsuna.

Where they were standing, which is on the very safe holy ground, was on the side of one of the alleyways. It was rather close to the main city district, to Tsuna's dislike, but risks can be taken.

He sprayed a proportion of the pathway, approximately 2 steps (like actual walking steps) wide. He made Lambo stand on the side of it and began spraying very slowly and carefully. He resulted to actually using a brush considering how small it was and he required the detail. He dunked the brush into a vile of liquid which was basically like water to paint but in this case, water to already-sprayed-on-paint.

There was a long meticulous hour that passed by and Lambo, for the first time was awed and not bored by what Tsuna was doing. It was basically a reflection of him, if he looked down at it.

"If you want it to last, give it a coat of this each month," said Tsuna handing Lambo a packet of powder. "Mix it with some water and it'll do the trick. Don't worry, I'll check up on it every now and then too!"

"Th-then… Lambo can come here years later and still be able to see this?" asked Lambo, tears threatening the corners of his eyes.

Tsuna merely nodded while ruffling his hair.

"Well, time to go home. It's late now, isn't it?"

"Eh?"

"Come on, I'm not that dame," said Tsuna, "You have nowhere to stay right? Just come home with me."

"Really?"

"Really."

…

Nana was ecstatic when Tsuna brought home Lambo. Well ecstatic is a bit underrated for the actual situation. Imagine that your son, who had been bullied for most of his childhood and never really had a friend, brought home a friend more like a child and claimed that they would be a part of the family and the boy was too cute to refuse as long as the fact he had a sad background story and if it weren't for Tsuna, he'd be homeless. ALSO, it was like a chance for her to take care of a child again and prevent anything bad from happening to him. It wasn't like Nana was going to abandon Tsuna, no that was horrid, but it's more like for her to redeem herself while Tsuna would actually bring back the family spirit that had once disappeared.

Whether there was a cause to Tsuna's bullying, Nana did not know, because she merely thought her son was too cute, and now pretty handsome and cool to be bullied. He was a smart boy, a bit too shy for his own good and, yes, he was clumsy. But that did not give any reason for him to be bullied! She had thought for long and hard, often thinking that the missing place for the father in the family was the reason, but she was never sure. She had once tried to ask Tsuna about it a few times, but he would only reply with something so vague that she would be able to notice and then end it with a graceful smile, showing no obvious emotion at all.

It was like, the only thing Tsuna could lie about and it was the only thing that Nana could get through her, (face it guys, she is) naïve and dense head. She was a mother. Though she may not know as much as his friends he had started to get while doing his night errands, she was still his mother. Let's just call it mother's intuition for now, because we still need to introduce a person before we get towards something big.

…

First of all, the great oh mighty silence was what overcame Tsuna first. Since Lambo arrived, things had been a bit more hectic and there were more troubles that came along, but they weren't exactly important. It was only 9pm, very early in terms of the night. He sighed as he walked along the pathway towards the shopping district.

There were still many people about, some coming home from night shifts. He stopped by a convenience store to get some hot food. He had little dinner because he said to his mother that he would be out way past midnight, so he needed some light good food. Settling on takoyaki, he left the store and continued his peaceful journey around town.

Sure there wasn't much to see, but you never know. Namimori was large and mysterious and Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if there was an entire base underneath the city. (Hint hint, Millefiore much?)

Weaving through a small maze of alleyways, he decided to rest and began his small feast of food. Lambo like takoyaki. Maybe he'd buy some in the morning. He peacefully thought to himself and suddenly heard some shouting when he was throwing away the plastic container. Curious, he peered at the people shouting in one of the alleyways only to be surprised to see two familiar people from school.

One of them, was the school idol from the freshmen, Sasagawa Kyoko along with her very famous and loud brother in third year, Sasagawa Ryohei. Although the brother was extremely into boxing, Tsuna often wondered about the strangely elegant moves he had. He had once had a crush on Kyoko but he saw the better sides of life than romance. At that time, bullying was number 1 on his list.

"Onii-chan! You promised not to do anymore graffiti OR fighting!" exclaimed Kyoko. The brother was in an awkward situation, and Tsuna felt sorry for him. Breaking the fact that he was a graffiti artist could've ended badly if it weren't for his mother's consent and suspicions. But then again, his mother loved him and he loved her back.

"Kyoko, I know I extremely promised, but I can't help it! It's like…. It's like quitting boxing!" said Ryohei, strangely more quieter than normal. Kyoko looked at him with sad eyes.

Kami-sama, please do not judge me for what I do next, thought Tsuna, scarf already around his face.

"Um… I know I am interrupting something, but I can't help but feel that you don't like graffiti?" questioned Tsuna to Kyoko.

"It's illegal and I plan to be a lawyer along with Hana," she said, "I can't have my brother break the law…"

"Well it's not a big offence if it isn't done right," said Tsuna, "If you don't agree then I'll just show you."

"What-"

"OH! You're extremely that 27 guy!" shouted Ryohei as he pieced it together, "I saw you before on my early jog!"

I won't question it… thought Tsuna.

The already laid out spray paint cans were nicely set out in sets of colours. He observed Kyoko seeing her quite nervous. He couldn't blame her for not liking graffiti. If her brother was caught, her future job would be affected along with the fact she didn't want her brother to get hurt.

"You're doing this for family right?" asked Tsuna to Kyoko as he picked up a spray can and started making an outline of a strange blob.

"Y-yes…" she mumbled.

"It's a good thing, trust me. Your brother protects you and you protect him back. It's normal," said Tsuna, with a flourish of spray painting. "Family is important. Don't ever betray them and protect them with your dying will."

There was silence for a full 10 minutes. Ryohei simply leant on the side of the wall listening to the quiet sprays as Kyoko sat against the wall staring off into the distance. When the constant spraying stopped, the siblings faced the wall only to be awed.

It was them, of course, just hugging as a family. The close bond between siblings and the ones there on the wall were much older, perhaps 10 years older.

"And make sure that bond lasts more than those 10 years okay?" Before Tsuna could leave, Ryohei got up and started to do his own thing. After a while, it seemed brighter and warmer and there was also an addition of Tsuna there, just lurking in the shadows smiling gently.

"Thanks, 27," said Kyoko. Tsuna blushed the slightest, happy of being thanked.

"Also if you don't mind, what is your number?" asked Tsuna.

"Number?" Ryohei thought for a very short time only to burst out that 33 was the most extreme number he could think of. And so the 27 and the 33 was placed underneath the graffiti.

…

"I'm going to bed. Wake me up in 3 hours please," said Tsuna as he headed up to his room. It was barely 6 am and his mother was already up so she can help her son. Nana had went to bed early as Tsuna told her to and woke up at 6 like he said so he could get to bed.

Nana simply smiled at the small stain of yellow paint at the edge of his sleeve.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is gonna keep the mafia at the minimum but it'll be there and it has to be there.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

"Ah…" Tsuna went into his auto pilot mode, weaving in and out a few alleyways before he arrived at the school, a few seconds from being late. The moment he passed through the gate, Hibari glanced at him and smirked then proceeded to bite those to death who were a millisecond late.

"Ah, Tsuna!" shouted Yamamoto as he ran towards him to go to the same classroom. "Did you hear about the news?"

"What news?" a sudden feeling of dread overwhelmed him like a TSUNAmi.

"Apparently we're gonna have a competition with the other school. The loser has to transfer over there!" said Yamamoto, completely happy and relaxed.

"And? What school and what competition is it?" asked Tsuna.

"Oh, it's Kokuyo if you don't know and the competition is so awesome!" exclaimed Yamamoto, "I bet you'll totally win!"

"Ha? Kokuyo as in the one with all the delinquents? Hie!" shrieked Tsuna, as the two settled into class, "what do you mean, I'll totally win? I'm too dame anyways!" Then again, Tsuna wasn't able to fully get rid of that Dame bit of him. Sure he wasn't as clumsy but it's hard to get rid of something when you've been like that for most of your life.

"Yeah Tsuna, you're so dame," said one of the students. His name was Mochi or something. [It's Mochida, bastard!]

"Ha?"

"Alright class, settle down. We're getting a transfer student. Please come in Gokudera kun," said the homeroom teacher.

"Tch. Gokudera Hayato," said the silverette who comes in. Tsuna widened his eyes before he started to drive himself insane.

Please don't say anything Takeshi, please don't, please don't, please-

"OH! Hayato!"

"Geh!" he pointed at Yamamoto as if accusing him of something.

"Oi, Yamamoto, Gokudera, please settle down. As I said, Gokudera will be joining us now and you shall be seated next to-" said the teacher as she scanned for an empty space. Tsuna only shrunk when the teacher's gaze stopped at Tsuna. "You shall be seated next to Sawada Tsunayoshi. Please put your hand up!"

Tsuna put his hand up reluctantly and faced his desk, not daring to face Hayato. When curiosity won over him, he was met by a frown before he whispered, "why the hell do you have the same name as Niina-sama?"

Tsuna only gaped at him. Some of the students who saw the scene sniggered. It just seemed like Gokudera did not believe that Tsuna was 27.

"For those who didn't get the notice, we are having a school competition with Kokuyo High. This competition requires mostly physical elements others are unknown and only the the head principals know," said the teacher, "however… whoever loses, will have to suffer whatever the other school wants. For those who win, you'll get a total amount of $1000 for the person with the most point and gets chose what the other team will suffer. The winning team is also getting a special trip to Vongola Headquarters in Italy for a week."

"Eh? I thought the loser has to transfer," said one student.

"No. But if that's what they want then yes."

"How many people can go?"

"Well, there is maximum place of 5 individuals of all years. The loser is the one with the least points earned in a team," said the teacher, "however… we will be randomly picking students."

There were shouts of disapproval and moans, some groans from the female population because they didn't want their bishies to be taken away or something.

"Results come out tomorrow. And I will now be handing back your Mid Term maths results," said the teacher with a smile. She went through the list before she got up to Tsuna's name.

"Good job, Sawada. It's quite the improvement."

Tsuna looked at his paper and at the top right corner he saw the number 72 out of 100 plastered proudly on it. He smiled inwardly finally being able to achieve the best result he had ever gotten in maths. To pass, you needed about 40 and average was about 65.

…

Tsuna had been called out at lunch by Gokudera. He sighed. Yamamoto also decided to tag along saying that he'd probably need the help.

"You! Are you Niina? You dare to have the same name as him!"

"Ah! Hayato, it's me!" said Tsuna waving his hands. Yamamoto lent him a scarf and Tsuna covered his face exactly like the 27 Gokudera knew. Tsuna then proceeded to tell Hayato his story about middle school and all about being 27. This led him to bow a thousand times within a span of a minute of saying sorry to him.

"If you really want to make up for it… I think you guys can come over to my place," said Tsuna. Lambo would probably try to throw a grenade at them, but he hoped the kid would understand that they were his friends.

On the way to his home, the trio stumbled across a kid with dirty (the colour not hygiene) blonde hair with an overly large book. He was about 12 or 13 and was pretty tall for his age, probably as tall as Yamamoto when he was that young. Something about him was extremely familiar about it. Tsuna was sure he had met the kid somewhere before.

"Tsuna-nii!" cried out the kid. A few memories flashed back through his eyes before Tsuna finally registered who it was.

"Fuuta?!" exclaimed Tsuna.

"Brother?!" exclaimed Takeshi and Hayato.

…

"Ahaha… so that's it," said Yamamoto scratching his head as Tsuna finished explaining who Fuuta was as they all sat inside Tsuna's room. His room wasn't as messy anymore and Lambo was apparently out with Nana shopping for dinner when she found out Tsuna's friends were coming over.

"Baseball idiot… you didn't get any of that!" said Gokudera. Huh, he created a nickname for him, thought Tsuna before he let out a one syllable laugh, ah… how close they'll get I wonder. For some reason, he has gotten a bit… over the hill. I don't know.

"O-oi, guys." The two who were in a one sided fight, faced Tsuna. "Until my mum gets home, can you keep quiet? I mean the kids fell asleep and all…"

Fuuta, despite being almost 13, he was rather tired after running away from the mafia and all. I mean, after Tsuna looked after him a few years back, the kid had returned to Italy and was taken under care of fellow ally, the Boss of the Chiavarone Famiglia.

"I'm sorry Niina-sama!"

"That's ok, Hayato. I mean, we're all friends," said Tsuna sighing as he imagined all the times this scene would play out as time would stretch out.

"F-Friends? We're friends? I feel guilty to be called a friend by you!" said Gokudera, doing his best to keep his voice down.

"Yes, we're friends, Gokudera, and including Takeshi of course~" said Tsuna with a smile that stunned all the teens.

They were disturbed by the sound of the door opening downstairs.

"Ah, mum's home," said Tsuna. He went downstairs to great his mother and then came back upstairs to usher Gokudera and Yamamoto downstairs as he explained to Nana about Fuuta.

"Fuuta? Oh! He's the cute one from a while back, of course he's welcome to stay!" she said happily, "I'll start preparing dinner then!"

…

The following day came with few troubles. Not.

"How could they do this?"

"Why is this happening?"

"Why now?"

There were rumours and gossip about the upcoming competition and how the other school had been hunting down the strongest people in Namimori to ensure victory. No one knew why they wanted the prize so much to commit such to personally beat up the opposing school's strongest.

Vice President of the Disciplinary Committee, Tetsuya, was admitted to hospital and it was now in Hibari's attention that the opposite school was posing such a threat. So he used his power as Leader of the committee to automatically put him in the 5 places. He had to be patient as if he fought with underhanded tricks like the other school it would not lead to a good ending especially when one herbivore could still easily slip under his notice and beat up others from the school. Despite this, results were handed out for who was going to be participating in the competition.

"Due to recent events, Hibari Kyoya is a part of our school's team. I will now announce the following who will be participating, no matter what," said the principle.

"Gokudera Hayato."

"Tch." Gokudera merely grunted as the old man continued. "How troublesome. What's the point if Niina-sama isn't with me?"

"Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Haha! I'm with you Takeshi!" he happily exclaimed as he slapped his back. He was then pelted with angry shouts from Gokudera.

"Sasagawa Ryohei."

"Ah it's a senpai," said Yamamoto.

"EXTREME! This will test my limits!" shouted Ryohei.

"And finally, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Eh?"

…

"Shall the games begin?" the heterochromatic eyed teen said as he smirked.


	7. Chapter 7

…  
“Fuck off, Dame-Tsuna. I hope you get thrashed by the Kokuyo!”

“I can’t believe he got a spot with all the other guys! I mean seriously?”

“Is this random? You’ve got to be kidding me! It actually included Dame-Tsuna!”

“I bet the other people who got chosen were because they pity you. They’re so stupid!”

The rants and protests of students, both female and male, added up to the pile of stress that Tsuna already had. First of all, he didn’t really care about the insults, I mean, if you had the police and some literally crazy lawyers and public members hate on your artwork which you’d like to share, only for a bit of fun and learning, this would seem rather normal. But no one, no one, insults his friends.  
He tried holding it in. He really did. But before he could do anything, Gokudera merely took him away noticing his feelings showing up on his face. All this time, after the few years of building away from being Dame Tsuna, as 27, he had focused all his attention on this. One of the few reasons that he allowed Yamamoto to join him on his journey was merely because he needed a friend that he had long longed for and never had.

“It’s ok, Niina-sama. Once they know who you really are, then they’ll change their opinion about you!”

“Huh, I highly doubt they will even believe me. Even if I try to prove it to them, they’d think it’s some kind of hoax.”

“Then we can get Hibari.”

“… Not a bad idea, but gossip will go around. I guess it’s better off just staying safe you know. I’ll ask the teachers to somehow get out of this situation. Oh.” That’s when he realised that he was being too selfish. Even with this, they Kokuyo students will end up wiping out student by student until utter victory. Along with that, his friends – Hayato, Kyoya, Takeshi and Ryohei – would have to go on without him. It was like ditching them after making the trust and bonds.

“I think… I’ll do it. I want to make sure you guys are safe,” said Tsuna. Gokudera was already rejoicing.

“For the students who have been chosen, tomorrow, you will be allowed a day’s rest. The competition will be held the day after tomorrow. I hope you will be cheering for your fellow classmate, or school mate. Thank you.”

…

“Ayy, this is bullshit.” Tsuna seethed as he looked at the scene.

“I’m not going to let you die on my turf.” He was rather possessive nowadays.

“Can you bloody stand up? I’m already stressed out from yesterday,” said Tsuna. The person he was supporting was rather average in height, a bit taller than him, and had short messy dark brown hair. He was wearing the green Kokuyo uniform. He was half unconscious, only letting out grunts as Tsuna lifted him.

“At least support yourself a bit. I may have strength but not for climbing over a wall with a person my back.” 

The person mumbled back something that sounded like ‘Sorry.’

Sighing, he gave up, letting the person sit against the wall for support. He pulled out a first aid kit from his duffel bag. The student was rather beaten up and he was probably a senior. Taking off his shirt, he noticed a few unhealed cuts and rather blotched bruises. 

“This is annoying… Who would do this to you?”

He spotted a spot of material in his pocket and saw what he thought it was. It was the Student Council arm sleeve. (I forgot what they were called in this currently moment of writing this)  
“You’re even the Student Council President? Wow…”

Finishing up, the person looked like a mummy excluding half of his face. 

“My name is Masato Hitsuji [1]” he said.

“Ah, I’m 27.” 

“2-27? As in the graffiti artist? I thought he was some mean guy who just vandalises any space he finds,” exclaimed Masato. 

“Well… get your facts right because I’m do not just go to ‘vandalise any space I find,’” retorted Tsuna.

“Such sass.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry… it’s just that… my work’s been catching up to me,” he replied.

“And you call this,” said Tsuna jabbing at his chest, “work?”

“Well… to protect the school from the transfer students… And the competition is coming up and all, I can’t keep up with their trouble.”

“Kokuyo High right? Well I never thought there would be some guy like you there. I feel for you,” said Tsuna, tightening his mask around his face.

“Well… um…”

“Ah sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you here or anything, but you were just dying on my turf so yeah.”

“Oh. Okay then… I’ll just go then.” The person slowly stood up and silently walked away.

“If you’re going to get out of the alleyways without climbing, I suggest taking a right that way and then taking a left on the second cross section,” said Tsuna.

The person waved a thank you and then continued on his way.

“Well that was weird.”

As a memo, he decided to get some orange spray paint and draw a body shape onto the ground where the Masato guy was once laid that looked like a murder scene.

…

“So Niina, what are you going to do for today?” asked Gokudera as he randomly showed up on Tsuna’s doorstep.

“I was going to go out and relax in the city, but it’s a bit far, so I’m just gonna stay at home and help out mum,” said Tsuna. “Do you want to come in?”

“Yes! Pardon my intrusion!”

Upon entering, they immediately went upstairs, after greeting Nana of course. Lambo had gone outside with Fuuta to go to the amusement park.

“Ah, Niina-san, I had recently heard about what the competition will be judging us on,” said Gokudera, “I had all the details memorized.”

Scary.

“Apparently, we will be going through a set of trials which test on our skills on our ability to climb heights, hiding and seeking, combat abilities and then artistic abilities.”

“Doesn’t that just sound like… what we do?”

“I never thought about it that way, but… after thinking about it I guess. It’s not a bad thing though,” replied Gokudera.

“Do you know why they are holding this anyways? This is the first time it’s ever happened and I highly doubt it’s just a friendly local school competition,” said Tsuna.

 

“I heard that the involvement of the other school’s transfer students. It’s rumoured they have control over the entire school and have been using the students as lackeys to beat up our school’s students or something,” replied Gokudera.

I guess that’s why that student president was having all that trouble. Not exactly my business but people are getting hurt from it... thought Tsuna.

There was a loud knock on the door. 

“Tsuna, can you get that for me?” asked Nana from downstairs.

“Okay!” shouted Tsuna. Gokudera followed him as the two went downstairs to answer the door.

Peeking through the hole, it was someone that Tsuna did not know.

“Huh.”

“Who is it? Is a Kokuyo bastard? I’ll blast- I mean, I will beat them for you Niina!”

“No, it’s a girl with long pink hair.” The female was familiar to him, but he couldn’t exactly recall who she was or where he had met her.

“Eh? Wait what? Wait-”

Upon opening the door, the female literally glomped Gokudera, while saying something along the lines of ‘I missed you!’ and ‘So this is where you’ve been!’

“Um… I don’t really want to interrupt but… is Gokudera ok?” Noticing the passed out and green Hayato, the female apologised and introduced herself.

“My name is Gokudera Bianchi, he’s my little half-brother. He’s always like this when he sees me,” she said. “And who might you be? You’re rather handsome up close, but those clothes make you look like the weaklings you find at a school.”

“Haha, thanks but please don’t mention anything about weaklings at school since I was once someone like that.” Now he knew who she was. She literally said the same thing when they first met, however, he didn’t show his face. Bianchi stared at him for a while while speaking.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or your fashion style.”

“Who is it Tsuna?” asked Nana as she came towards them drying her hands on a paper towel. Bianchi put on strange goggles, but it seemed to help Gokudera.

“This is Gokudera Bianchi, Hayato’s elder half-sister. Is it ok if I invite her in?”

“Of course!” she said with a smile.

“Well I want to show you something anyways,” said Tsuna. As the three went upstairs, they stopped. Technically, Tsuna stopped and then stopped the two.

“Is there a problem, Niina-sama?” asked Hayato, slightly worried. Tsuna shook his head and then gestured to the two to the slightly peeling paint revealing a burnt wall.

“You see this right? Your sister over there did this.”

“When did I-?”

Then they continued on, into his room and he began to pull out a box. Inside there was a melting toy figure, completely unrecognisable. 

“This, she did too.”

“Ah~ I know now!” exclaimed Bianchi. Then she suddenly left behind her brother and then decided to glomp Tsuna who immediately tried to get out of her hold.

“DID YOU FINISH IT? OH MY GOD. PLEASE TELL ME YOU DID!!!” She was squealing with all her mind where Gokudera was trying to shut her up and Tsuna merely stood there covering his ears.

“I finished it. A very long time ago.”

“Niina-sama, what exactly is ‘it?’” asked Hayato.

“It’s better if I show you it. Up for an early start?” asked Tsuna noticing the settling sun.

Gokudera nodded. Bianchi was already off since she knew where it was.

They made their way to Tsuna’s grounds and went through a different set of paths that Gokudera never noticed and came across a rather tall graffiti art. It was taller than Tsuna, at least. It was a man, looking sharp in a suit with a fedora and yellow strip of ribbon around it. The letter R was placed beside it and 27 plastered next to it.

“Making me help him graffiti himself here on my turf. That man was really narcissistic…” Tsuna shivered as he could imagine the man wack him on the head.

“Oh my god, Reborn!” exclaimed Bianchi as she hugged the wall with the spray paint on it.

“Wait, do you mean the Reborn?” said Gokudera as if in shock.

“Geh! You know that guy?!” spat Tsuna. He couldn’t bring himself to ever respect that man. All he did, literally, was kick him around. 

“He’s the number one hit-” Gokudera stopped himself as he realised he was just going to expose part of the mafia to Tsuna and desperately tried to think of something else.

“Hitman, right? He kept boasting about it. That’s why we never really got along. I hated that part of him being a hitman and all,” said Tsuna. Now that he thought about, Reborn never brought anything up about his job as a hitman. It was very believable. His skills in easily defeating him in combat and then showing up from nowhere and his always available gun aka lizard shapeshifting shit.

“How could he just expose that to you?” asked Gokudera as if he doubted the world.

“Ha?”

“This is innocence… I must protect it…” mumbled Gokudera and then declared with new found prospect, “I shall protect you Niina!”  
Cue sweat drop from Tsuna.

“Well Bianchi, you know where it is now,” said Tsuna, “was there a reason you decided to come now though?”

“Hm~ not really, but Reborn went missing and I couldn’t find him, so I thought that I may as well pay a visit to the Reborn here,” replied Bianchi.

“Haha, that’s nice,” said Tsuna, biting down his lies. Reborn was missing right. He’s missing. That is not good. 

Something told him that night, something really bad was going to happen. Add the Kokuyo and he felt like a tragedy would befall him. But after all, he would have to endure it. Sometimes, he really wished that he had never gotten involved with anything related to Reborn. Then again, he can’t escape Reborn.  
…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] I was doing some random searching on KHR and came across this dude. He’s legit. 
> 
> Updates are slow as I use FanFiction as my main.


	8. Chapter 8

As the day before the competition was a day off, Tsuna decided he had to escape the whole thing about Bianchi. He honestly didn’t want to waste any energy, and so, his mother kindly suggested going on a day trip to the beach. Although it would be tiring, he was going to return before dinner, so he could eat and sleep and rest up.

But then it didn’t go to plan. Since he, miraculously, ended up sleeping for the entire day up to noon. He woke up and ate breakfast which was technically lunch, and ended up just playing games on his laptop. It was very odd for his day to go without trouble, but it seemed that the people in the team for the competition were doing the same as him, taking a day off, except for Hibari who kept up his role as the Leader of the Disciplinary Committee and Ryohei who kept boxing. 

Yamamoto helped out his dad at the sushi shop and Gokudera wanted to give Tsuna some space and time to rest. Nana had managed to keep the kids at bay without any trouble, and so that was how 

Tsuna’s day ended up being so eventless and the day finished as soon as he went to sleep early for the first in a very very long time. And he felt good... Not really.

…

“We are now calling for students of Namimori High to assemble in class order in the court. We will have a roll call and then allow the students representing our school to group up and prepare for the   
competition. Good luck and play well everyone!”

“Damn, this is kinda nerve racking!” said Yamamoto with a nervous laugh.

“… I have a really bad feeling though…” Tsuna looked at the school as they assembled in the court.

“By the way, what’s with everyone here?” 

The choice of the group was said to be random, but it wasn’t really random in their eyes. Everyone had some sort of relation to Tsuna, and the five of them all knew that as a fact. Of course, none of them were going without a fight with the Kokuyo. Some were going for the fun of it, the fact they were going to fight or the fact they opposing school had beaten up their school for their worthless needs to win.

“Is there a way to win? From what I’ve heard the competition wasn’t for this purpose,” asked Tsuna. He earned a glare from Hibari.

“I’ll bite them to death. We will win, no matter what.”

“But Hibari-san, it’s not exactly fighting,” replied Tsuna only to snap his mouth shut as the prefect glared at him again.

“Niina sama, we still got some time to prepare! I’ll make sure we will win with my immaculate strategies!” exclaimed Gokudera, already hyped and ready to go. Tsuna sweat dropped. Technically it wasn’t a   
strategy based event but it was literally physical skill. 

“We’ll be starting soon. Please gather at main stage.”

“YOSHA! Let’s win to the extreme!” shouted Ryohei as he sped ahead.

“Ah, wait for us sempai!”

“Hn.”

…

The group eagerly waited for the opposing to arrive. What would they look like? What were they like?

“We officially announce the arrival of the Kokuyo High School!”

The other group of five came into view. Of them the central figure led them to believe that he was the ringleader of the assault on the Namimori High school students. He had strange black streaks across his right cheeks and sharp steely eyes. Overall, he looked scary. There was a girl with red hair and a clarinet, which they found interesting and were wary of her. One had a beanie and a strange barcode tattooed on his face and wore glasses and an emotionless expression. Another had blonde spikey hair and a scar that ran across his face over his nose. The final one looked the least dangerous with a worried expression. He had black hair and navy eyes. Tsuna somewhat sympathised with him. Poor guy probably got randomly chosen and put in.

“For today, our first challenge is a race course. There have been multiple obstacle courses placed around the track. One person from each group will be participating. In total, there will be 7 challenges this day. No matter whether you lose or not, everything you do will count. Points are awarded for many different areas, so no matter should you not be the fastest.”

“That doesn’t sound that hard,” said Yamamoto.

“Yeah…”

“First up, Yamamoto Takeshi and Ken Joshima! Please get in line and we’ll be starting soon!”

“Op, I’m up first!” said Takeshi rather happily as he and the blonde walked up to the line. Was he like, not worried at all for his possibly violent opponent?

“Don’t underestimate me, byon,” taunted Ken.

“Ready? 3, 2, 1, START!”

Both of them had started off steadily, but Ken had fallen behind. 

“Time to pull out the trump card, eh?” Yamamoto, from the corner of his eye, spotted the teen pull out teeth. TEETH. And then stuck it into his mouth. Suddenly, the guy disappeared and was suddenly in front of him. He may be oblivious and all, but that was not normal.

He couldn’t falter now. He’d let down his team. He suddenly happened to remember something that Tsuna said to him before.

“We sometimes don’t know what some people will do, so whatever happens remain calm. They have a limit, so find out the weakness of that limit.”

“Wait, what if I can’t?”

“Do your best, 80. There’s something called resolve in this world.”

“Resolve?”

“A man in a fedora once told me of resolution and how it can take some sort of form. I haven’t found my resolve but I hope you do.”

With a small grin he thought really hard. This was a game after all; this was supposed to be fun. They came to the first course, a climbing one. The guy changed his teeth again and rather gorilla like features grew on his body. He knew it already. Between those times that he changed his teeth, he was a normal human like him. 

Both of them scaled the obstacle easily and landed safely. Yamamoto knew that the blonde was going to switch teeth again so he started to sprint to get a head start. 

“Geh!” 

Yamamoto, now ahead was able to make it to the second course. It was to crawl underneath a whole set of nets and planks like what you saw in the military. It would hinder both of them, but Yamamoto had arm strength from his baseball skills. That was enough for him. With a set of shuffling and dragging, his head popped out of the obstacle. After taking a breath, he resumed running again around the course. There was a little sign that said there was one more obstacle left. He had to pick up his game.

Just as he thought he was doing fine, something rushed up this side and Yamamoto felt sharp teeth sink into his arm. He yelped at the pain and watched as the blood ran. No. This was no longer a competition between schools. If those people had the intention to harm, then there was no holding back. He wanted to protect that part of fun that kept the oddball group of people together. 

Something sparked. He didn’t know what, but something ran through his head like fire. It was like everything got slower or he got faster, perhaps even both. But something was happening. The blue tinge in the air remained unknown to the baseball player as he continued running and soon spotted the blonde already diving into the pool. Since when did their school have the pool going?

He jumped into he water, noticing his blood mixing into the water. He grunted at the pain but it was fine. Something told him that this water would be his friend. 

“GAH! HOW ARE YOU SO FAST?!” shouted Ken. Yamamoto saw this and realised that he wasn’t going any faster than he was before. Rather than that, Ken was slower. 

He took this chance and quickly swam forward to the other side of the pool. Up ahead was the finish line. There was no time to lose. A fast 100 metre dash and it would all be over. He could feel all his energy being drained from him with every step he took forward.

50 metres left…

Tsuna and the rest noticed the other teen making it towards the finish line.

20 metres left…

That’s when they realised something red dripping down his arm.

5 metres left…

Ryohei already went to get a first aid kit.

Finish…

Tsuna quickly grabbed Yamamoto before he hit the ground in utter tiredness. Shouting something about getting the band aids, Yamamoto fell into the depth of unconsciousness with a smile knowing that he had done his best. He still needed to warn them, but for now, his job was done.

…

“How did it happen?” asked Tsuna. The competition was on hold considering that Yamamoto had been injured.

“What an idiot… He knew that he was going to bleed out in the pool but he still swam,” snarled Gokudera. 

“He’s okay to the extreme, right?”

“Hn. I’ve already alerted the school headmaster,” said Hibari. 

After inspection of the wound, it seemed like some sort of animal had got him. The groan coming from the once unconscious teen alerted them.

“Oi, what happened?” asked Gokudera, not bothering to pretend he didn’t care.

“Ugh wait a sec…” They all let him sit up and take a sip of water. “It seems like this isn’t as much fun as I thought…”

“Of course you bloody baseball idiot. How can this be fun?!” exclaimed Gokudera.

“Glad you cared, haha!” said Yamamoto then coughing a bit. “Well, I’m okay for now, but I want to warn you all.” Everyone perked up. “Kokuyo seems really bent on winning… I don’t know if it’s for the   
prize or what, but they want to hurt you all.”

There was a moment’s silence from the group. Tsuna finally stood up from Yamamoto’s side; his head hung low and his eyes were no longer existent from his hair.

“Whatever they want, they have to earn it. But that doesn’t mean they have to hurt my friend to get it,” mumbled Tsuna.

“Herbivore-”

“Shut up. This no longer is a school competition. If they want it, come and get it.” Tsuna walked menacingly to the exit. No one had ever seen such a side of Tsuna before, nor did they know what danger came with it.

“Well? What are we waiting for?” asked Tsuna with a bright smile that completely contradicted to his previous action. “Let’s go show the true nature.”

“Niina, you’re not serious right?”

“Come on 59, this is no time to be joking around,” said Tsuna as he turned away from them with a smirk.


End file.
